Gonzalez murder trial delayed, special prosecutor sought

PORT CLINTON - The trial of a Port Clinton man accused of a 2014 murder, which had been scheduled to begin Monday, has been postponed again after the newly elected county prosecutor said he will request a special prosecutor in the case.

Ruben Gonzalez, 60, formerly of Hoover Drive, allegedly stabbed a man to death over two years ago in the West End Community, the first murder within Port Clinton’s city limits in well over a decade.

A pretrial hearing is now scheduled for 2 p.m. Feb. 13 in Ottawa County Common Pleas Court, but a new trial date has not yet been scheduled. The trial is expected to last up to five days.

Gonzalez is accused of killing Jose Villalon, 43, on Oct. 7, 2014, and making a threatening statement to a witness at the scene of the homicide. Gonzalez and Villalon were acquaintances, according to police.

Gonzalez was charged with one felony count each of aggravated murder and murder, which could carry a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole, and one misdemeanor count of aggravated menacing. The death penalty is not an option in the case.

The case had been embroiled in a legal battle over the admissibility of certain evidence obtained by police when they initially entered and searched Gonzalez’s residence following the murder.

After several lengthy hearings on the matter, Judge Bruce Winters of Ottawa County Common Pleas Court ruled in March the evidence would be admissible and a trial date was set for August 2016.

Just days before the trial was scheduled to begin, Gonzalez’s defense attorneys, Esteban Callejas and William Hayes, asked the court to delay the trial after receiving new evidence that was not previously disclosed to them, requesting time to review and investigate it, according to court records.

Winters granted the defense’s request and the trial was subsequently scheduled to begin Monday.

However, another continuance was issued Wednesday after Ottawa County Prosecutor James VanEerten, who was elected in November and took office Tuesday, said he will request a special prosecutor because he previously served as a magistrate in the Gonzalez case.

Magistrates are judicial officers appointed by the court with the power to preside over certain hearings. VanEerten stepped down as an Ottawa County magistrate in late 2015 when he considered running for prosecutor.